Hitwolf, Volume 2

Hitwolf #1

by Fred Adams Jr.

It has been several months since veteran Green Beret Jim Slate escaped captivity at the hands of New Jersey mob boss, Michael Monzo. Employing a mercenary wizard, Monzo had transformed Slate into a werewolf with the intentions of using him as his own personal "hitwolf". But Slate managed to foil Monzo and fled to the New Jersey wilderness known as the Barrens. There he rendezvoused with three of his former army pals and related his harrowing experiences. Knowing the mob will never stop hunting Slate, the team heads for the swamps of Chambliss, Georgia to hide out. At their request, Slate turns Swede and Haines into werewolves while the third, Singer, opts to remain the solo "normal" one of the squad. Things turn worse when, through some Washington contacts, Slate learns he was betrayed by his former C.I.A. liaisons. Now they have added their considerable resources to the task of capturing him and the others. Determined to use their new-found abilities only to defend themselves against their enemies, Slate walks a delicate tightrope hoping the beasts he and his mates carry in their veins can be controlled. If not, then all hell will break loose and even the blood of the innocent will flow.

Audible Audio

First published July 3, 2014

About the author

Fred Adams, Jr. ("Dr. Phreddee") has been a published author since 1971 when he began selling fiction to magazines and non-fiction pieces to newspapers. Since his retirement from Penn State University's English faculty, he has written eighteen novels, two nonfiction books, and over twenty commissioned novellas and short stories for anthologies.

Reviews

[Peter Ackerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hitwolf was a wonderful surprise for me. I enjoy action thrillers and when I learned about the publisher I decided to try one of their books. I chose this one, by author Fred Adams Jr., merely because it was close to Halloween when I began to read it, but that was fortuitous because I loved this novel.

In the early 1970's Two stories quickly converge. A mafioso gang member becomes a werewolf and later bites (and thus adds to the werewolf population) Slate, a special operatives soldier. Though the Mafia boss wants to control Slate as the ultimate "hit wolf" the former soldier is able to escape. In this book there is exciting action as rivals come at each other.

What I loved about this book is that it contained just through right, light touch, of sorcery. There are two sorcerers in the novel who have the ability to cast spells and even control the werewolves, but they flavor an otherwise gritty "street" story. It is rare that the genre's of fantasy and thriller can be combined well, but Fred Adams Jr. does it well.

For me I look forward to reading other works by the offer, as well as the sequel to this winner.

[Pamela Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, based in the Vietnam War era, pulls us into the slimy underworld of the New Jersey mafia and the ongoing war between two of the mob families, run by Michael Monzo and Martin "Mardi Gras" Stubbs, respectively. But that's not all - Stubbs has gotten hold of a werewolf that he uses to kill his enemies. His werewolf bites one of Monzo's men, making him a werewolf too.

Enter John Slate, former mercenary and current construction worker, who happens to be in the same dive bar with Monzo and Pegg, the wizard who controls werewolves with an amulet. A biker gang comes in and starts a fight, and Monzo is so impressed with Slate's fighting skills that he kidnaps him and turns him into a werewolf to add to his arsenal.

The mob wars escalate with the addition of werewolves, needless to say. Slate is a little too smart to be held captive for long though.

Although this is not the type of book I would normally pick up, I can truly say that I read it from cover to cover in practically one sitting. There is a lot of gory violence, but since it is fantasy it didn't really bother me as it might in another genre. The characters are interesting and well-developed, and the story moves along at a rapid pace with a cool ending. This book will not disappoint!

[CJ Paxinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking back, I hesitated over giving 5 stars or 4 stars but I lean more toward having loved the book than just liked it. Intense and fast paced and quite interesting, great cultural wisecracks. Spartan writing to the point of one and two word sentences, but well used and placed. The only thing that I wasn't too keen on is a few times it seemed like there were a few too many characters and I became confused and had to go back a page or two and reread.

Slate reminded me of Jack Reacher, only I liked Slate better, another reason to go with five stars. Reacher got on my nerves pretty quickly as he seemed too prone to gratuitous violence just for the shock value. The violence in Hitwolf seemed more justified and was at times even more fantastical and brutal, but was just more fun. And yes, I will admit to being a little squeamish and skipping over gruesome details occasionally. Overall, a most enjoyable dose of pulp with a creatively dark premise.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very slow to start, but the last forty pages were amazing! I was ready to read more about Slate, his team, and learn his back story, but it never happened. I would recommend the book, but I would also suggest skimming the first half until it rally starts to develop somewhere in the middle. I would like to read another book about this team, as long as it demonstrated more development than the beginning of this one. This had a lot of build up before the book had its hook. If I'm not hooked by the first twenty pages, it takes a recommendation to stick it out, and this book required that for me.

[Logan Horsford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly good.

This is not the kind of novel I normally enjoy. It takes place basically in the '70's. Did anything good happen in the world besides the first 'Star Wars' film during the '70's? Debatable.

Seriously though it was a fun novel.

It had some interesting turns (wouldn't go so far as to call them twists) and was well written and narrated.

I'd recommend it for fans of werewolves and a bit of the ole ultra-violence.

[Logan Horsford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unexpectedly good.

This is not the kind of novel I normally enjoy. It takes place basically in the '70's. Did anything good happen in the world besides the first 'Star Wars' film during the '70's? Debatable.

Seriously though it was a fun novel.

It had some interesting turns (wouldn't go so far as to call them twists) and was well written and narrated.

I'd recommend it for fans of werewolves and a bit of the ole ultra-violence.

[Shawn]

A very nice short book, packed with rich and detailed people